Mother, Daughter, Mermaid
by rubyinnle
Summary: DISCONTINUED The Little Mermaid: The murder of Triton and his eldest daughter forces Ariel to return to Atlantica, perhaps for good. Eric and her two daughters, Melody and Christella, accompany her. Story mainly follows Melody and Chrissie.
1. Two Deaths and A Suitor

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.

Chapter 1: Two Deaths and a Suitor

The Duchess of Golda Row smiled broadly showing her many yellowed teeth, breathing on the poor girl beside her with stinking breath. "Tell me my dear, Crystal is it?" she asked, "No," said Christella, the Duchess ignored her and continued "Now what type of jewelry does your sister Melody like? Diamonds? No, pearls… And gold or silver?"

I pretended not to hear the foul Duchess and looked over at my stunning sister, who had her fathers eyes and hair, but her mother's stunning figure. She had boys seated to her left and right. The Duchess' son, a weedy boy, was trying in vain to get Melody to even look at him.

She however was absorbed in her newest suitor who was the son of the other lady beside Christella, Lady Greenhill. He was a muscular lad, yet intelligent and very well to do, not that Melody needed the money.

The poor boy was falling more in love with Melody every day, but she was just toying with him. She would pay him this attention for about a week then ignored him as she did the other suitors. She had done this to five boys now, and this boy was to be the sixth. Melody was to be married on her eighteenth birthday, which was less than three months away.

The rumors were starting to spread and the tidal wave of suitors was slowing. Her parents were very disappointed, but Melody didn't seem to mind. Christella turned to look at her parents. They were happily chatting with their neighbors, so they spotted the messenger bearing the crest of her grandfather, King Triton, a good while after their youngest daughter did.

Ariel watched the messenger approach the head of the table, noting his crest as he came. "I come bearing news from the city of Atlantica," he began somberly, "Your father and your eldest sister, King Triton and Aquatta, were found murdered about twenty minutes ago. Now you are Queen of Atlantica as he deemed you to be his heir. I am truly sorry." he finished. Ariel's heart felt as if it had split in two and then the world went black. Ariel had fainted.

"And then his horse bucked him off!" ended Gareth. Melody giggled girlishly and in the process managed to drop her fork on the floor. "Oops!" she giggled "Do you reckon you could get that for me Gareth." She simpered and turned her upper body to face him. "Sure," he said, blushing, and got a very full view of Melody's cleavage as he bent to get it. "Thank you," she said sweetly as he handed her the fork.

There was a great stir in the crowd and Melody looked up to see what the commotion was. When she saw the centre of the confusion she shot up and sprinted to the head of the table yelling, "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

As soon as she saw her mother fall, Christella was running to the head of the table. She arrived at the same time as Melody. Eric picked his wife up easily and indicated for his two daughters to follow him as he took Ariel to their room, leaving the dining room in a state of utter confusion.

"Something very terrible has happened my little ones," said Eric said sadly and the girls remained silent as they walked, "Your Grandfather and your aunty Aquatta have been… killed." "You mean they were murdered!" exclaimed Melody. Christella was soundless as silent tears rolled down he cheeks. Melody began to sob too and Eric looked as if he was enduring some terrible aching pain.

They laid Ariel on her bed, her hair a glistening halo. Although she was only just fourteen, Christella looked so much like her mother it was almost unearthly. There were few differences between them, the most obvious being her eyes. Christella had brown eyes that were apparently her grandmothers. She also had freckles and hair that went to the back of her knees, much longer than her mothers.

They were talking softly when Ariel woke. She sat bolt up right and said "Thank God it's just a dream." Then she saw the sadness in their eyes. "But it's not is it…" Then the tears started, not tears, heart wrenching cries of anguish. Christella had never had seen her mother, nor anyone for that matter, in such a state of sadness. Slowly they tears subsided and a red faced Ariel emerged from her inner turmoil.

"I don't know if your father told you," said their mother heavily, "But I am Queen of Atlantica." Melody screamed and said "Oh my God we're double princesses?" Christella murmured "Are we going to live in Atlantica? Be mermaids for the rest of our lives? What will Papa do…" "We will go to Atlantica and I as Queen have the power to turn you my darling," she said slowly, turning to Eric, "Into a merman… If you wish, of course." "I'd follow you to the ends of the earth my love." Eric replied.

The next day they stood on the steps of the castle, the sea lapping at their feet and wetting the girls' dresses. Thousands of merpeople and sea animals had turned out to see the event. The Trident was brought forward by a league of mersoldiers and as Ariel touched it, it morphed into a more elegant and feminine shape.

Ariel walked waist deep into the water and turned herself into a mermaid. She disappeared underwater and burst out of the water in her mermaid form with a coral crown in her hair.

Eric was second to be transformed and had a deep red tail. Next was Melody with a pink tail and finally Christella. Christella had never been turned into a mermaid because she had never really wanted to she had often swam as a human with her grandfather and Melody when she was a mermaid so she was very exited.

As she waded into the water she felt the attention focus on her. When it began she felt a curious sensation in her legs and slipped underwater as she could no longer stand. She powered through the water a burst out with many gasps and ah-ing.

Christella landed with her family beaming. "Chrissie!" said Ariel using Christella's seldom used nickname. "You have a crystal tail!" Christella looked down at her tail in surprise. It was as if she had pale silver under her scales of clear crystal that reflecting the sunshine and making rainbows in the water.

"Stella, Stella, Stella…" murmured Melody. "Melody!" she growled under her breath. Melody knew full well she hated that nick name. Ariel saw the potential conflict and said pointedly "Well we best get going then shouldn't we." They began their decent into the ocean, towards Atlantica.


	2. Old Friends and New Enemies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Chapter 2: Old Friends and New Enemies**

**Last Time:** _Ariel saw the potential conflict and said pointedly "Well we best get going then shouldn't we." They began their decent into the ocean, towards Atlantica._

Christella took a deep breath and plunged under the water. Melody was already under the water giggling. "You don't have to take a breath silly," she said laughing. Christella blushed as the mersoldiers started to smile.

Melody grabbed onto her mothers hand and they swam easily down through the water to the waiting seahorse-drawn carriage. Christella took her father's hand and they began swimming down more tentatively.

This was Eric's first time as a merman too and they smiled at each other and looked around them in amazement.

The sunlight was playing across the seafloor and the numerous sea creatures that were watching them with great interest. They reached the enclosed carriage and swam in.

"You took your time," said Ariel playfully. All thoughts of her fathers and oldest sister's death had fled her mind momentarily as she was in a much better mood now that she was a mermaid.

She had the Trident lying very naturally in her lap. It suited her well and Melody was looking out the window lost in thought.

"I missed the ocean…" she said wistfully. Eric was looking rather nervous though and Christella could imagine his look reflected on her own face.

The carriage began to move and Christella sat in the lounge opposite her mother and older sister and beside her father.

Awhile later, Atlantica came into view. It simply took her breath away. She had seen it in Melody's magical necklace but this was entirely different. There were masses of mermaids swimming around trying to get a glimpse into the carriage.

The carriage stopped and Ariel rushed to get out, Eric was close behind followed by Melody and Christella.

Ariel held Eric's hand tightly as he was looking a little bewildered. Melody went up to her father and held his other hand, so Christella took her mothers' hand.

Many people pointed at her tail and shouted out things such as "Long live Queen Ariel!" But more disturbingly, "Down with the human man!" Ariel frowned at this and moved a little faster.

When they reached the palace the guards saluted to attention. Christella blushed. Though she was used to being looked up to, as her father was a Prince, she had never gained such high respect.

They swam through the massive corridors, following Ariel. She knew exactly where she was going. She was beginning to become more solemn.

When they reached a pair of giant doors guarded by two mersoldiers, she stiffened and Christella sensed she was trying not to cry.

"This is where they were…" Ariel began before bursting into noisy sobs. The mersoldiers slowly opened the doors. The entire room was shrouded in black.

Two glass coffins edged with gold were mounted on black podiums in the centre of the room. Ariel swam forward and looked in first at her sister, then her father.

Ariel was crying, but of course Christella couldn't tell for sure. Her eyes were full of sorrow that made Christella's heart ache.

Ariel settled herself in a chair in the corner and tried to compose herself while Eric, Melody and Christella approached the beautifully made coffins.

Triton was in the coffin on the left and his oldest daughter Aquatta on the right. They both looked like they were only sleeping.

Christella felt a lump in form in her throat the size of a small apple, and began to cry. The tears became part of the ocean as soon as they formed so Christella's eyes didn't blur, as they would have on land.

As she sorrowed, Christella noticed something. On the inside of her grandfather's wrist was a small red mark. Curious, even in her grief, Christella looked closer and saw the skin was punctured.

Christella went to her aunt's coffin and found she too had a red puncture mark, but on her neck "Mel," Christella inquired, "Do they know how grandfather and Aquatta died?"

Melody looked at Christella sadly. "They were poisoned somehow, probably by some sort of crystal from the Veleno Caverns."

"What are they?" Christella inquired, "I'll tell you later," said Melody, "Not really the time and place, hey." Christella was jolted sharply back to reality, but was still curious about how her grandfather and aunt met their demise.

Christella slept badly that night, and in the morning she could tell that it was the same story for the rest of the family.

Ariel looked especially haggard and was listlessly drifting through the water, letting Melody and Eric take her where they willed. Christella was worried about her mother as she was usually in a constant state of bubbly-ness.

While Eric went ahead to open the door to the Great Hall for breakfast, Christella asked her mother what was bothering her most. "The fact they were murdered," said Ariel softly, "My father and Aquatta never did anything to deserve that."

"What would you do if you found out who murdered them?" Melody asked. Ariel paused, "I… I don't know," she murmured.

Breakfast was a lively affair and even Ariel regained some of her past vigor. There were many of friends of Ariel and Melody's from under the sea.

There was Sebastian and his daughter Minerva, Flounder and his oldest son, the merboy Derek, who Melody met during the 'Morgana Affair' and three of Ariel's sisters, Andrina, Arista and Adella.

Ariel's other two sister, Alana and Attina, had fled Atlantica mysteriously with their families at the news of the two deaths.

Andrina had come with her husband and baby son. Arista and Adella were yet to marry, but they were happy as they were.

When it came to eat, Ariel became more subdued, not talking much and eating very little, pushing the rest around her plate. Eric was casting worried glances in her direction. Derek, Melody and Christella were chatting good-naturedly.

Derek had matured a lot since Melody had last seen him. He was becoming a thoroughly attractive merman, but Melody wanted no more than to be friends.

Nobody noticed the cloaked figure drifting through the water. Nobody saw it approach Andrina's baby son, who was gurgling happily. Nobody noticed until it was too late.

**Do you like it? Please feel free to review with creative criticism and suggestions. No flames please. And remember "The best thing anyone can do to help a writer is encouragement." Matthew Reilly, Bestselling author.**


	3. The Funeral

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Last Time: **_Nobody noticed the cloaked figure drifting through the water. Nobody saw it approach Andrina's baby son, who was gurgling happily. Nobody noticed until it was too late._

**Chapter 3: The Funeral**

When the figure grabbed the child from behind, the baby began to scream. Andrina reacted instantly, but she was to slow.

The cloaked thing swam up to the ceiling and released an ink bomb. When the cloud cleared, nothing remained. Andrina sank to the floor looking dazed.

"They said it would happen, they warned me! They did, and now he's gone so I have nothing!" Andrina cried to nobody, but perhaps the ocean itself.

Andrina's husband scooped up his wife, who had curled up into a ball, with a look of unrestrained grief clear on his handsome features.

"We must leave this place," he said in a sorrowful voice, "We cannot stay after what has happened."

Ariel nodded looking concerned, while Christella and Melody exchanged glances. Eric frowned and moved to put an arm around his wife.

"Who warned you this was going to happen," asked Ariel, her features now unreadable, "I see that you must leave, but who warned you of this?"

"We got a… a letter," sobbed Andrina, "It said… It said…" "'Leave now or your young ones shall be stolen from your arms and you shall be locked in a mind of sorrow,'" said Andrina's husband in a whisper. "I wanted to leave right away, but Andrina wanted to stay for the funeral and I yielded."

Ariel, Arista and Adella were spending ever increasing amounts of time together, organizing the funeral, managing the Kingdom and all leaning on each other for support.

Christella was happy to notice that her mothers mood was subtly lifting. She, Melody and Derek had become very close too, and Derek was having a great time showing them about various areas in the city.

Derek, much to Christella's annoyance, had begun calling her Christy and Christy-Ella. Melody found it very amusing until Derek started calling her Mel-Mel.

The day of the funeral definitely came too quickly for Christella's liking. The two coffins came in the middle of the procession through the city including a funeral band and important guests in sea-horse and dolphin drawn open carriages.

The streets were crammed full and everyone was cloaking in black. Leading the processional was Ariel with Arista and Adella. All three were weeping openly. The next carriage contained Christella, Melody, Eric, Derek, Sebastian and Flounder.

The public service was held in the city square. The square was absolutely packed with merpeople and sea life and there was not one who did not sorrow.

Normally, Christella would have been interested in the proceedings, but today she could do no more than cry

The ceremony went for an hour or more, with speeches, prayers to Poseidon and other traditions. After the ceremony, a smaller group moved towards the private funeral.

The smaller group traveled for about half an hour before reaching The Volcano of Poseidon. It was a big underwater volcano, used to 'cremate' especially important merpeople.

The volcano only rarely erupted naturally, but the Holder of the Trident could make it erupt. There were no official speeches or prayers now, except those going silently through everyone's heads.

One by one, the merpeople filed past the coffins, looking at their past leader and his oldest daughter for the last time.

Ariel was last in line. She heaved a great sigh and, using the Trident, made Aquatta's coffin disappear. Everyone watch in awe as Aquatta's lifeless body drifted over to the mouth of the volcano.

Aquatta hung as if suspended by some long string. She almost looked alive. A great rumbling began to shake the water. And a jet of super-heated water, steam and magma blasted the mermaid's body.

As soon as it had begun, it was finished. Aquatta was gone.

The same thing occurred for Triton. When the rumbling began, an anguished wail came from the crowd.

And, again, it finished and Triton was gone.

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	4. A Broken Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**GIANT thanks to my beta dazzeling diamond, you go girl!**

**Also, great big thanks to storywriter92, for reading and reviewing, keep it up!**

**Last Time: **_And, again, it finished and Triton was gone._

**Chapter 4:**

That night, Christella dreamt. It was a strange dream, vivid and surreal but it did not meander and focused only on two voices.

The first was a female voice, gruff but melodic and a male voice that was soft and persuasive. Christella saw only vague shadows as the conversation she had 'intruded' on continued.

"… it's fool-proof. I swear on my life," said the female voice as the shadow of a webbed hand swiftly darted in and out of the darkness in a wild gesture. Christella realized they were in an alley.

"But there are those less than fools you know my… foolish friend," countered the male voice.

"How dare you!" screeched the female. There was a flicker of a speeding webbed and clawed hand, bent on destruction.

It was met with a thump accompanied by a half whimper, half growl.

"You may have right of power, but in the current situation, I believe it is I who is more… advantaged, shall we say, in this situation."

This was acknowledged by no more than a menacing hiss. "Good," confirmed the male voice. "Things shall go as we…" This was followed by a more menacing hiss.

"We are being watched," he murmured in a low voice, almost to low for Christella to catch.

There was the swirl of two cloaks as the hooded figures emerged from the darkness. One had a perfectly beautiful blood red tail that glimmered in this small amount of light.

The other had a sickly green and ill-formed tail. The merperson was having some trouble actually swimming.

Suddenly the dream dissolved into blackness and strangely, unlike most dreams, Christella could remember it perfectly.

The palace was quieter than usual in the days that followed the funeral. The usual bustle was slowed. Many a time Christella had found herself wandering around the palace aimlessly and others seemed to be doing the same.

But slowly, almost impossibly, thing began to run normally. Ariel had dragged herself out of her sorrow and resolved to be her old happy self.

A week after the funeral, the wills of Triton and Aquatta were read. When the day came, Ariel, Melody, Christella, Arista, Adella and a few other important looking people were ushered into a small office-like library to be greeted by the Royal Keeper of the Wills.

He was a frail, grey-haired merman, with a bright orange tail that contradicted the rest of his appearance so sharply, it made him look older than he actually was.

He began to slowly read the wills in a frail voice that possessed an inner thread of warmth.

"I, King Triton, in my last will and testament declare the following. The order of leadership of my six daughters shall be as follows; Aquatta, Ariel, Andrina, Alana, Attina and then to Arista and Adella if they are married, as mermaids who are unmarried may not become Queen as is declared by the Official Law. They will then be followed by the next in line for the title of King/Queen."

The frail merman was racked by a great hacking cough and then continued. "I leave 400 000 gold clams, to be divided equally among the following charities, The Society Assisting Orphans, the Assistants of the Elderly, the Research Laboratory of Deadly Poisons and the Charity for Water Demons. Aside from any donated money, my wealth shall be divided equally between my six daughters…"

Christella's attention began to wander. She looked across at Melody who, although, was staring intently at the frail merman, she was clearly deep in her own thoughts.

Both Christella and Melody started when the merman said, "…and to my two granddaughters, Melody and Christella I leave two necklaces, which are enclosed."

The merman coughed again and handed a pink diamond set in gold to Melody and a blue diamond set in gold to Christella.

They were each half of a broken heart, and they fitted together seamlessly. The sisters looked at each other. They smiled, they were very different people. But, like the necklace, they belonged together.

The next day, the sisters decided to go out to the city, just the two of them. "But, we don't want anyone to recognize us," said Melody playfully, "So… How 'bout we paint each others tails!"

Melody had always been trying to give Christella a 'makeover' on land. Christella had always refused. "Oh, alright," said Christella with a smile. "But only because it's a disguise."

Melody relished in her task, and painted Christella's tail a bright pink. She managed to get Christella to wear a shell top in the palest shade of yellow.

She also managed to convince Christella to wear her hair in something that resembled a beehive. Melody stood back and smiled at the end result.

Christella looked in the mirror, and was genuinely surprised that she looked actually was very pretty in this seemingly ridiculous get up.

"Right, let's go!" said Melody excitedly, "Ah, ah, ah," Christella scolded, wagging her finger. "My turn!" Melody looked aghast, thinking of what horror her sister would put her in.

With painstaking care, Christella painted her sister's tail a pale shade of blue and dressed her in a pale pink shell top.

She unbound Melody's hair from one of its unusual styles and let it float free. Somehow this made Melody look younger, more innocent.

"Now you look like the oldest!" Melody joked. Christella smiled, it was the perfect disguise.

They had no trouble sneaking out of the palace; nobody recognized them so there were no problems.

Christella noticed that Melody was getting more and more excited as they moved towards the market place in the city.

Melody loved to shop and she had been cooped up for a long time. She had brought 50 gold clams with her, Christella brought only ten.

Christella was saving the share of her grandfather's wealth that Ariel had given her, though she didn't know what for or why.

The first thing Melody saw that she fell in love with was a shell top coated in mother of pearl. "Six gold clams?" she exclaimed, marvelling at the low price.

"Oh, it may be pricy miss, but it's worth every bronze clam," said the stall holder with a hopeful smile. Melody smiled, she was rich, very rich.

"Here," Melody said, and handed him six golden clams from her purse. "Thank you miss!" exclaimed the stall holder.

He carefully wrapped Melody's purchase in a light material made of seaweed fibres. Melody beamed again and placed the top in her shopping bag with her purse.

Melody turned to look at her sister. Christella was frozen; fear was coursing through her body. There before her was merman with a blood-red tail and a handsome face.

Melody followed her sister's gaze to the mysterious merman, but beside him, was the most gorgeous merman she had ever seen.

The merman with a blood red tail, known as Darcy, looked across at his friend who was staring at two pretty mermaids, one older than the other, probably sisters.

The merman called by some 'Black Manta' and by even less Ray, looked up to see two mermaids, but he only had eyes for one, the older of the two with a bright pink tail. She was the most beautiful mermaid he had ever seen.

The mermaid next to him tore her gaze from Ray to see at what he was staring at with so much intensity. She saw two mermaids, one of which, one with a bright pink tail, Ray was staring at as if she was the love of his life.

She felt the hot, bubbling jealousy. That mermaid would pay…

**Review! No flames please, but CREATIVE CRITICISM is appreciated.**


	5. Fear and Regret

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Please, please, please! REVIEW!**

**dazzeling diamond, thank you heaps! I never could have done it without you.**

**And thanks to everyone who added me to their fave stories or alerts list.**

**Last time: **_She saw two mermaids, one of which, one with a bright pink tail, Ray was staring at as if she was the love of his life._

_She felt the hot, bubbling jealousy. That mermaid would pay…_

**Chapter 5:**

"Ray," said the mermaid, tugging on his arm. "Ray!" "What? Oh, Rhiannon…" he said, startled out of his trance. "Who was she?" asked Rhiannon.

"What?" Ray repeated. "The girl you were staring at…" Rhiannon said meekly. "I don't know… But I wish I did." Ray looked up and hissed a curse under his breath. She was gone.

Christella swam desperately, trying to get as far away from the red-tailed mermaid as fast as possible, dragging Melody behind her.

"He's absolutely gorgeous," murmured Melody, "Did you see that tail of his? And his muscles…" Melody retreated into her dreams of the most handsome merman in the world.

Christella stopped, panting, happy now that she was far enough away from the red-tailed merman. "Darcy," her subconsciousness told her. "Darcy…" Christella murmured under her breath.

"Is that his name?" Melody inquired, "Darcy?" "I think it his name, of the red-tailed one that is…" replied Christella. "Oh," said Melody, disappointed. "I meant the gorgeous one beside him. How could you not notice him?"

Christella thought back and had a memory of a muscular merman with a glistening blue tail who was about Melody's age.

"I wonder who he is," said Melody dreamily. "I guess we'll never know…' said Christella hopefully, thinking that anyone associated with this 'Darcy' couldn't be good.

The next two days passed by uneventfully for the sisters. Although Melody begged Christella to go out to the marketplace again, Christella flatly refused.

Melody withdrew to her room, indulging in fantasies of her being rescued from fierce sharks and other villenous creatures by the merman of her dreams.

Christella worked herself up over the encounter, which only proceeded to give Christella a migraine that confined her to bed for a good ten hours.

Then, that evening at dinner, Ariel, who had now taken full control of the Kingdom, told them something important, very important.

"There is a great rebel group is growing in the community against Eric. Their leader, 'Black Manta', has requested an audience for tomorrow with the entire Royal Family, so that includes you two."

"I bet it will be boring," Melody muttered to her sister, "I bet he'll be some fat old merman with a long list of complaints."

The meeting was set after breakfast the next day.

Christella was wearing the shell top she had worn on the day in the markets, except her hair was in a high pony tail and Melody had her hair out with her and was wearing her least revealing top (the equivalent of Christella's most revealing top).

Their tail paint was yet to wear off, so they looked similar to what they had on that day in the markets.

The family arranged themselves in the audience chamber and waited for the entrance of the fabled rebel leader.

"Announcing Mister Ray, who does not wish to disclose his last name," said a pompous butler, obviously deeply upset at this lack of regulation.

Melody smiled and rolled her eyes at Christella.

A muscular merman with a deep blue tail with matching eyes and sandy-coloured hair entered the room.

Both Christella and Melody froze. It was the merman from the markets.

Christella thanked all the gods that the blood-red tail wasn't with him, but he was dangerous all the same.

Melody cursed herself for wearing her worst top, with her hair floating free. To have met him with her hair in such a state was bad enough, but twice in a row… It was a crime!

Ray's eyes locked on the mermaid he had seen in the markets. His heart sunk, she was a princess!

Ariel began to speak, but for once Christella didn't care. He was staring at her with a look in his eye that made her blood freeze. She was trapped.

Melody desperately looked for something to tie back her hair, a stray piece of seaweed, anything! She was rewarded with a strand behind her chair.

She swiftly bound up her hair and looked hopefully towards 'Ray'. He was staring a Christella. Melody wanted to cry.

All men, from land or sea, always stared at her, but the one she wanted most to stare at her, was completely absorbed in none other than her sister.

Ray snapped out of his hypnotisation with the mermaid and bowed deeply to Queen Ariel and King Eric.

How he hated bowing to a land man, he hated even more that she, more beautiful than any other, was his daughter.

**R & R… No flames, creative criticism only. REVIEW!**


	6. Smile!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**NB: I wrote this while on a camping holiday with no net connection, so sorry it took so long!**

**Big thanks to all the regular reviewers, reviews make all the difference.**

**Last Time: **_How he hated bowing to a land man, he hated even more that she, more beautiful than any other, was his daughter._

**Chapter 6:**

Christella could not listen to the conversation that followed. All her energy was devoted to staying still and not panicking.

Melody was fuming. Ray's gaze was going from Ariel, full of respect, to Eric, full of contempt and often darting to Christella, his gaze full of desire.

"I would like to speak to the two… ah… princesses privately," said Ray at the end of the audience. "Why," said Ariel coldly.

"To inform them that I have no prejudices against them because they are… ah… half human." said Ray.

Eric seethed silently then opened his mouth as if to say something that would probably make the rebels resent him all the more.

Then Ariel looked at him with a pleading expression, and slowly he closed his mouth.

"Fine," said Ariel in a voice so full of hatred, Melody's mouth dropped.

Her mother never hated anyone, she thought. It was a curse that Ray was the only one her mother despised.

Ariel and Eric left the room holding hands, while having a conversation through their eyes that only people who completely understand each other can have.

Ray slowly swam to where the two sisters sat and said softly, "I hold no prejudice against you." looking only at Christella.

"But what if _I _hold prejudice against _you_," said Christella venomously, all her fear being unleashed as anger.

Ray looked shocked, he had not expected this. "What, um, how… How old are you," stammered Ray, not knowing what else to say.

Melody, tired of being ignored, said quickly, "I am eighteen and Chrissie is fifteen."

"What?" shouted Ray "I thought Chrissie was the oldest!"

"Christella," corrected Christella coldly.

Ray frowned, Christella was looking at him with hatred in her eye, whereas Melody was smiling at him so hard she looked as if her cheeks were about to burst.

Ray realised with a slight feeling pity that Melody was flirting with him!

He had heard of her reputation above the sea of flirting with a boy for sometime then dropping him as if he never existed. It sickened him.

A number of girls in the rebel group had grown 'infatuated' with him, and he had always firmly refused them.

When had done so they pleaded with him, had a screaming fit, sulked or all of the above!

Melody though was different. He felt that if he refused her, she would quietly accept it and get on with life, though maybe lacking some of her past vivaciousness.

He smiled at Melody, and impossibly she smiled even more.

"Do you want to meet me in the market sometime?" she asked hurriedly, then clapped her hands over her mouth, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Okay, how's tomorrow morning, just outside the palace gates, say about 10?" asked Ray. Melody smiled and nodded vigorously, she swam from the room full of joy, to mentally digest what had just happened.

Ray went to leave but before he did Christella said, "If you hurt her, you will regret it to the end of your days."

Christella's voice was so dangerous, yet so truthful, that Ray nodded dumbly in fear.

Christella swam swiftly through the palace, looking to the ground thinking of how stupid Melody was.

She was so preoccupied she crashed into someone. "Oh, sorry," said Christella quickly before looking up. It was Derek.

"Hey Christella!" he said with a smile. "Call me Chrissie," she said, surprising herself.

"Okay, Chrissie, what's up?" "Melody," explained Christella in that single word.

Derek nodded and took Christella's hand. Her heart fluttered. "Wanna go for a swim with me in the coral gardens?" asked Derek, "Um… Sure!" said Christella with a smile.

They swam through the garden in silence, still holding hands and sat in one of the many seats around the garden.

"So, what's she done this time," said Derek, referring to Melody, "Oh, just gone and fallen in love with the leader of the rebels," said Christella sarcastically.

"Oh, is that all," said Derek with a laugh. Christella smiled, "So, I haven't seen you in ages. What's happening in your world?" Christella asked.

"Well, my dad has tried to set me up with this girl called Lamella, pretty little thing, rich too." "What!" Christella exclaimed, alarmed.

"What? You jealous," said Derek cheekily, "No," Christella lied, blushing.

"Well you have no reason to fuss because she's a stupid airhead not capable of an intelligent conversation." said Derek grinning.

"You never stop smiling, do you," said Christella. Derek pretended to consider for a moment, then smiled and said, "Nope!"

Melody swam around her room in circles. With one thought going through her head like a broken record.

"He asked me out. He asked me out! he asked me out…"

Ray sat down with a sigh in beautifully furnished dining room in the Blueswell house, his temporary home.

Rhiannon came rushing in almost immediately and sat on the chair beside him, turning it to face him.

"So," she began, "Did it go well?" "Not as well as I hoped, but she listened, that's what counts at this stage."

"You look grim, how 'bout we go do something tomorrow morning?" asked Rhiannon, smiling hopefully.

"Sorry Rhi, but I'm doing something tomorrow…"

"What?" asked Rhiannon, her voice full of interest.

"Well, you know those two mermaids we met the other day, in the markets?" Rhiannon visibly stiffened and nodded.

"I'm going to the markets with the older of the two, Melody, tomorrow."

"Was she the one you were staring at?" inquired Rhiannon, trying to hide the shake in her voice.

"No, she's the younger one _and_ she hates me." said Ray wryly.

"Oh," said Rhiannon simply. The anger that was filling her was threatening to overflow.

"I have to go now," she said mechanically, and fled the room.

Rhiannon raced through the corridor that led to her bedroom. Suddenly she stopped.

Her favourite tapestry was askew, the one of the beautiful mermaid that looked a little like her, being worshiped by a merman that looked a little like Ray.

She went to adjust it, but saw something other than sand-coloured stone of the wall peeking out from behind the tapestry.

Rhiannon pulled the tapestry aside to reveal what lay behind it. A door.

**Review… Now! It only takes a minute or two, so please review!**


	7. Blackmail

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**I know it's short, so I'll update ASAP.**

**Last Time: **_Rhiannon pulled the tapestry aside to reveal what lay behind it. A door._

**Chapter 7:**

Rhiannon tested the handle. It was unlocked.

She swam through the door, positioned the tapestry over it and closed the door. She did not want to be found.

Rhiannon slowly swam down the twisting corridor, the walls covered in algae. A jellyfish darted in front of her, almost making her scream.

She was holding her breath in anticipation, but didn't know why. The corridor ended suddenly with a door, slightly ajar.

Light spilled from the room beyond and murmuring voices could be heard, full of excitement.

Rhiannon swam to the door and peeked through the crack.

Ray watched Rhiannon rush off and frowned. She had seemed to be nervous in the past few days, and he had no idea why.

He dismissed it without further thought. All of a sudden he felt tired.

So much had happened in the past few days, and on top of that he hadn't been sleeping well.

He swam slowly to the guest bedroom, lay down on the bed, slept and dreamt.

It was one of the strangest dreams he had ever had, flashes of his past, sometimes altered and flashes of places and occurrences that he had never known.

He saw Melody in a dark cell, his parents smiling at him, Rhiannon asleep in his arms, Christella her eyes full of fear, Darcy staring at him like filth, a sea sprite he had never seen smiling cruelly.

Ray jerked awake, breathing heavily. Things were going change.

Rhiannon heard before she saw. "… brought you all here today to propose that we form a smaller slightly different group within the rebels."

Rhiannon knew that voice, but prayed she was wrong. She peeking in and saw her brother, Darcy, as impressive as ever.

"The rebel group headed by 'Black Manta'," He spat those words out as if they were poison.

"They believe that the human should be returned to land, and that no human should be allowed to become a merperson."

"We, on the other hand, want him dead. And no human should be able to do anything to the ocean. The penalty? Death."

Rhiannon gasped, why would Darcy want to do that? She thought. Power, power was the only thing he ever worked for.

But how would killing Eric get him power? But that didn't matter, not now at least, she thought.

Then a plan started to form in her mind. She could stand between Darcy and power, and he would do anything to shift her.

She could tell others of his plan, namely Ray, but she had nothing to gain from that.

Something she could use though was something that had been dreaming about for months she could get out of this situation.

It would be easy, oh so easy, now to do what had seemed impossible when she had thought of it months before.

Rhiannon threw open the door. "Hello Darcy," she said in her most menacing voice, not looking at the others gathered in the room, staring only at Darcy.

Darcy looked annoyed at the interruption, then his face began to turn white as he realised his chance at power was being jeopardised.

"How much did you hear," he said slowly. "Everything," his sister replied, "And I'll tell Ray."

Darcy's eyes widened. "Unless," said Rhiannon, speaking the word that made Darcy sigh in relief, "You do a number of things."

He frowned and said to the group, "Leave us, the meeting is over." He waited until all were gone.

"What do you want," he said icily. "Three things," she said.

"A Fever Crystal, a Pink-Shifter Crystal and…" She paused dramatically.

"I want you to kidnap Princess Melody."


	8. Romance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Gargantuan thanks to dazzeling diamond and StoryWriter92.**

**Last Time: **_"I want you to kidnap Princess Melody."_

**Chapter 8:**

Darcy smiled unnervingly, not the reaction Rhiannon had expected.

"I was going to kidnap Christella, but I suppose Melody will do." said Darcy offhandedly. Rhiannon scowled.

"What about the other things?' she asked. "Easy," he said, with another of his smiles.

Rhiannon swam to her room to do some planning. After so long, everything was beginning to go right.

Darcy watched his sister leave and chuckled to himself at the stupidity of what his sister had asked for.

He knew what she was planning and it seemed the most idiotic thing to do. He would have asked for something completely different. Typical girl.

A mermaid swam out of the shadows; she had a bulky pale green tail and webbed hands.

"Planning to kidnap Christella now, were you," she asked. "No," said Darcy with a scowl.

"She was getting all high and mighty, she's better to stay in her place. And can you get those crystals on the black market?" Darcy asked.

"Easy, Fever and Pink-Shifter wasn't it." Darcy confirmed with a nod. "I can get them to you by tomorrow morning."

Melody woke earlier than normal the next day, exited as she would have been on her birthday or Christmas.

She laid her entire wardrobe on her bed. She took a pair at a time, compared them, put away the losing pair and keeping the winning pair.

It came down to her most revealing top, an elegant evening pair in white and black stripes and the mother-of-pearl pair she had bought that fateful day in the markets.

She chose the mother-of-pearl.

Rhiannon's plan was simple. Every night, she, Ray and Darcy had dinner together. She would give him a cup of red grape jelly as usual.

But this time, before she gave it to him, she would place the Fever Crystal in it which would dissolve nearly instantly.

The Fever Crystal would work in five minutes. Ray would feel nauseous, unable to eat. Rhiannon would offer to take him to his room.

He would be too weak to refuse. Then, she would have fifteen minutes to get him to his bedroom before he would fall into a deathlike sleep for five minutes.

Five minutes would be all it took for Rhiannon to use the Pink-Shifter Crystal.

Melody was already waiting for Ray when he arrived. Ray was surprised at how beautiful she looked.

She had her hair tied back in a loose pony-tail and was wearing one half of a broken heart on a gold chain and a simple gold bangle on the wrist.

Melody had stressed over how to do her hair and accessorise for hours. But had decided to go simply because that was how she felt.

"Hey," said Ray. "Hi," Melody replied shyly. They smiled timidly at each other and without a word Ray took Melody's hand, and they swam off.

Christella lay on her bed, thinking. A knock came from the door. She looked up, it was Derek. "Hey!" she exclaimed, "Come in."

He grabbed a chair from the desk, put it beside the bed and sat down. "How is my little princess this morning?"

"Okay, I guess. Melody's out on her little date."

"How long did she take to get ready?" asked Derek jokingly.

"Three hours," answered Christella truthfully. Derek laughed, "Good old Mel-Mel."

They were both quiet for a moment. "I think you're beautiful." Derek blurted out.

Christella's eyes jerked up and she sat up to face him. "You really think so?" she asked. "Yes," he said softly.

Melody and Ray got lunch from a small take-away shop. They both refused that the other pay, so they went halves instead.

They ate in a small, quiet park that was like a maze made of coral. "You know," said Melody, taking a bite out of her sea olive and jellyfish on shell bread.

"After I first saw you, I never thought I'd see you again. And usually I would have thought 'Oh well there are always other merman in the sea'. But you were different, you stuck in my mind. I… I even dreamt about you…"

Ray stared at her. "I guess you think I'm just another silly girl…"

"No," Ray interrupted, putting a finger to her lips. "I've dreamt about you too."

They smiled shyly at each other, their food lying lifeless in their hands, forgotten.

Melody bent closer to Ray, but he sprang back, as if shocked. The pain was visible in Melody's eyes.

Ray took her hand. "Not here," he whispered. Then he turned and swam off, fast, pulling Melody behind him.

"Ray. Ray!" Melody exclaimed, "Where are you taking me?" Ray just smiled back at her.

They reached a wall with a door in it at the end of the park. Ray took a small key from underneath one of his scales and opened the door.

It was a small courtyard, walled all around, with a thorny coral roof that let in the light from above but was still impenetrable.

There was a small bench, carved from white stone with many hearts and swirls engraved in it.

Ray sat down, and Melody sat beside him. Ray leaned towards Melody, and she towards him.

They kissed.

It seemed like hours until they drew away from each other, still holding each other close.

"I made a promise to myself," Ray murmured, "That the first mergirl I ever kissed, I would kiss here. Because of a dream, it seemed silly, but I did it all the same…"

Melody smiled at him. It was a smile full of content and innocence. Her hair had come undone and Ray thought she looked like a goddess.

"I've never felt this was before," said Melody with a mock frown, "It must be love… What do you think, Professor?" she asked Ray.

"I have done extensive research on this topic," he said, playing along, "And from this I deduce, yes, this is love." he finished softly.

Melody lay back against Ray's chest with a sigh and Ray held her close.

Derek sat beside Christella on the bed and slipped his arm around her waist. Christella reached around his neck and they pulled each other near.

They kissed.

They fell backwards and move up towards the head of the bed so they lay beside each other, still kissing.

Slowly, Christella drew away, curled up into a ball and rested her head on Derek's chest. He draped his arm over her and closed his eyes, smiling.

Everything was ready. Darcy had given her the crystals. Rhiannon smiled. All she had to do was wait.

**Ah, the romance… Review if you know what's good for you.**


	9. Crystals

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**So far for the last chapter only 2 (dazzeling diamond, StoryWriter92, you go girls!) out of 13 have reviewed…**

**Please review! Even if it's just one word, I don't care… Review!**

**Last Time: **_Everything was ready. Darcy had given her the crystals. Rhiannon smiled. All she had to do was wait._

**Chapter 9:**

Ray arrived home less than half an hour before dinner. Rhiannon had been getting very impatient, and when he got back she could have kissed him.

She had kept herself from going to insanity by reading a book that she had first read half a year ago over and over again. It said:

"_The Pink-Shifter Crystal (or Love Crystal): This crystal causes a merperson to fall in love with another merperson._

_How to use it: Prick the subject's _right _wrist with the crystal. Prick your _left_ wrist. Prick the subject's _left _wrist with the crystal. Prick your _right_ wrist. Prick the base of the subject's tail. Prick the base of your tail. Touch your wrists and tail to the subject's. The subject will fall into a deep sleep for 24 hours that they cannot be awakened from._

_IMPORTANT: For this spell to work the subject must already be in love. When the spell is performed they will forget this merperson. If the subject sees their previous love, they will remember that merperson's name. If they hear that merperson speak, they will remember things about them. If they feel their touch, they will recall memories involving them both. If they kiss the spell will be completely broken."_

ooOoo

Dinner was a surprisingly quiet affair that night. Ray was thinking about Melody, Rhiannon was thinking about Ray and Darcy was thinking how mundane the whole 'love' thing was.

Rhiannon silently took a cup of red grape jelly and put it on her lap, quickly slipping the Fever Crystal into it.

Ray took it with a small smile of thanks and began to eat. Rhiannon held her breath, praying it would work. Suddenly, Ray clutched his stomach, turning pale.

"Are you alright?" asked Rhiannon in a concerned voice. Ray shook his head. Rhiannon got up and helped him to his room not a moment to soon.

As soon as he got to his bedroom he fell asleep. Rhiannon worked quickly, she closed the door and did exactly what the book said. Rhiannon smiled, it was completed for now. Melody was next.

ooOoo

The next morning, Melody received a message from Ray.

_Dear Melody,_

It read,

_Come over to my place at midday. I live at 23 Goldreed Way, a large mansion with a pink coral fence. Can't wait to see you again._

_I love you,_

_Ray xoxo_

ooOoo

Melody couldn't stop smiling that day and she noticed that neither could Christella.

Christella and Derek had slept on Christella's bed through the night and had both woken very early. They had shared another passionate kiss before Derek had to leave.

Derek's father was part of Ariel's Council of Advisors. He was often seen around the palace 'contemplating life' as he said or with his father discussing politics.

ooOoo

Melody set out early that day to buy some more shell tops. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she was wearing a simple white shell top.

Melody wandered about the stalls a bought one top. It had a row of beads dangling from the bottom of it and it was exactly the same colour as her tail.

Funnily enough, it was her least revealing top to date. Melody continued on through the markets and soon arrived at Goldreed Way.

She found number 23 and looked at the house. It seemed completely unlike anywhere she could imagine Ray living. It was the nearly the most feminie house she had ever seen!

She rang the doorbell, still uncertain. An ordinary looking mermaid with a pale orange tail and a pretty smile answered the door.

"Hello," said Melody nervously, "Does anyone called Ray live here?" "He certainly does," replied the other mermaid, leading Melody inside, "I'm a friend of his, Rhiannon, and he's been living with us for about half a year now."

Melody remained silent. Rhiannon led her to a plush living room and showed her to a seat beside a large tapestry depicting an older merman with a pleasant smile, like Rhiannon's and a cruel but beautiful younger woman holding a baby merboy with a blood red tail.

"Wait here," Rhiannon said, "I'll go get Ray." She left the room. Melody waited.

She didn't notice the tapestry ripple slightly. She didn't notice a webbed hand slowly creep out from behind it, a red crystal gripped in it.

Melody felt a sharp pain in her neck and the world went black. The mermaid with the bulky tail came from behind the tapestry, revealing a cavity. She smiled and went to get Darcy.

ooOoo

Derek knocked on Christella's door, she turned around from the desk where she had been drawing and faced him with a smile.

He came in and greeted her with a deep, slow kiss. "I want you to come to my place," he said, "Show you my bedroom," he said with a smile.

Outside the palace, Derek led Christella to a nearby stable. He brought out green seahorse with intelligent eyes. "Her name's Allie," Derek said.

He sat himself on her side-saddle and pulled Christella up beside him. "Ready?" Derek enquired eyes full of mischief. Christella nodded with a smile just as cheeky.

The seahorse darted at enormous speed as Derek wound through the traffic. Christella clung to him, and would have fallen off otherwise.

They arrived at a large mansion similar in style in colour to those around it, but different in its own way.

After stabling his seahorse, Derek took Christella though the empty house to his bedroom.

He opened the door, and on the bed was a stunning mermaid wearing something that looked as if it were from Melody's wardrobe.

"Hello Derek," she said seductively.

**Do you like it? No flames please, but CREATIVE CRITICISM is appreciated.**


	10. True Purpose

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Now, there's a teeny tiny request I have for you all. **

**REVIEW!**

**Last Time: **

**Melody -**

_Melody felt a sharp pain in her neck and the world went black. The mermaid with the bulky tail came from behind the tapestry, revealing a cavity. She smiled and went to get Darcy._

**Christella -**

"_Hello Derek," she said seductively._

**Chapter 10:**

"Mariya?" Derek's was stunned. "Oh, Derek how I've missed you," she said dramatically and swam up to Derek and kissed him full on the lips.

Derek went rigid and looked to Christella in a silent plea. But slowly Derek started to kiss this 'Mariya' back.

Before Christella of them could do anything, Mariya had turned to her.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn't notice you before. Are you Derek's younger sister or something?"

Christella's jaw dropped, pain clear in her eyes. She swam off before Derek could stop her.

Mariya turned back to Derek. "Now, where were we… Oh yes, kiss me," she demanded.

Derek looked as if he were suffering in some internal battle. He slowly shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but Mariya kissed him into silence instead.

Whenever he tried to say something, she kissed him. Derek was losing his resolve. "This lipstick really works…" she murmured to herself.

She was one of the richest mermaids in the ocean, after the royal family. The very expensive lipstick she was wearing had some ground Coercer Crystal in it.

"Now, kiss me," commanded Mariya once again. Derek blinked blearily, his eyes glazed. He swam to her and kissed her almost mechanically.

She threw him to the bed and landed on top of him. After placing his hands around her waist she resumed kissing him.

She would tell him what he had done, he would get guilty. Mariya suspected he would get dumped by that little mergirl anyway.

So, who would be left for him? Her, that's who.

Mariya had her old toy back, and she liked it.

ooOoo

Melody woke up in small stone cell with a heavy wooden door and some dead seaweed on the floor.

The first thing she noticed was her tail. The beautiful coral colour had been painted over with a shiny black.

She was oblivious to the shadowy merman floating in the corner for a while. A small scream escaped her lips when she noticed him.

He threw here a small black bundle and said before leaving the room, "Put that on, I'll be back in a few moments."

Melody changed into the outfit hastily, obeying thoughtlessly. It was a long-sleeve midriff top with a low V-neck.

It clung to her skin exactly, so it was revealing in more ways than one. The merman with the blood red tail returned moments later.

He put a metal ring around the bottom of her tail that was attached to a sort of lead. "Follow me," he said coldly.

They ended up in a room with a giant dining or conference table. Lavish tapestries covered the walls.

At the end of the room was an inconspicuous door. He led her into the room.

"If this bell rings," he said, pointing to an old ships bell, "I will require you to attend to me either in a conference or a formal meal of some sort. You will not speak, but you will do as I say."

"And what is I don't." said Melody in a sudden streak of boldness. He blinked at her. "Then you will be demoted to a maid in the kitchens," he replied in a soft, dangerous voice.

Melody shuddered, still as vain as ever. He smiled and said, "How rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself. I am Darcy."

ooOoo

Christella swam out of Derek's street as fast as she could. She stop in the busy main street and lost herself in the busy noise.

She spotted a huge pink poster with a few exited merpeople around her age gathered by it.

Christella swam up, curious, and looked at the poster. Her heat skipped a beat.

There on the poster was Mariya wearing something that even Melody wouldn't wear with two similar looking mermaids with sea stars on their shell tops.

The poster read:

_Mariya and the Merstars, Back from Ocean Tour! They've been all over the Pacific, Indian and Arctic Ocean. They've been to the Caribbean and Coral Sea. They've been to the Mediterranean and Arabian Sea. They have even been to the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Mexico. _

_But they couldn't keep away, because now they are back in their home town of Atlantica! They are performing at 30 FREE concerts and you are invited! Get your tickets NOW!_

Christella read it over. She, Christella the shy princess, new to the sea and daughter of a human, was up against the most famous mermaid in the sea.

Christella swam home. That night she cried herself to sleep.

ooOoo

Melody woke to the sound of the ringing bell. She got up and waited as the door slowly opened.

She swam into the room with her head held high. She could sense the eyes of the merman at the table with Darcy looking her up and down.

Another older mermaid handed her a plate of sea grapes and pointed to Darcy. Darcy opened his mouth and Melody popped a sea grape in it.

Melody served Darcy for a while, not listening to what the two mermen said. Then Darcy said, "I must go to the bathroom, Melody, serve Dakar until I return." He gestured to the merman he had been talking with.

Dakar was a hairy merman with yellowed teeth. Melody swam around his side of the table.

As soon as Darcy left the room, Dakar got up. Melody swam back a little in surprise, dropping the tray.

He kept coming toward her and she kept backing away until she reached the wall. He pressed up against her kissing her as her ran his hands all over her body. She struggled in vain.

Suddenly he stopped and sat down. Melody kept herself pressed against the wall. A few seconds later, Darcy entered the room.

He looked at her and she could tell he knew what had just transpired. "You may return to your room now," said Darcy quietly.

Melody did so as she realised that the true purpose of her summoning had been fulfilled. Entertainment for Darcy's guests.

**Review! Sorry it took so long for me to put it up!**


	11. Sea Grapes and a Ransom

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Review if ya know what good for ya! looks around menacingly**

**Thank you dazzeling diamond and StoryWriter92 who always review without fail.**

**Last Time:**

**Christella - **_Christella swam home. That night she cried herself to sleep._

**Melody - **_Melody did so as she realised that the true purpose of her summoning had been fulfilled. Entertainment for Darcy's guests._

**Chapter 11:**

The next time the bell rung, Melody did not go out so blithely. She observed the man sitting with Darcy.

He was a weedy, cowardly teenager perhaps younger than Melody herself. She listened this time while she fed Darcy the sea grapes off a silver platter.

The boy was exchanging information as a spy of some sort for 'payment'. It was never mentioned what the 'payment' was, but Melody could guess.

Just as before, Darcy left to go the 'bathroom'. The moment he left, the boy came towards her with a hungry look in his eyes.

Melody pretended to be scared and when she was up against the wall, she swung the platter at his head.

His eyes rolled back and he slowly floated to the ground, a big bruise already forming on his temple.

Melody checked his pulse, he was alive. She propped him up in his chair and ate some sea grapes.

ooOoo

Christella woke up to the sound of knocking on her door. For a split second she thought, she hoped, it was Derek.

"Chrissie?" Her mother's voice sounded from behind the door, "Are you awake?" "I am now," muttered Christella in her grumpy reply.

Ariel slowly opened the door and poked her head around the door. Christella hadn't seen her in ages, it seemed and she looked so much older with her hair tied up in a bun.

"Honey," she said, "I have something to tell you." Christella propped herself up on her elbows and yawned.

"What?" she asked sleepily. "I have enrolled you at Finworthy's Academy." she said.

"You what?" demanded Christella sitting bolt upright. "You start tomorrow. I've been so busy lately; I've been very lax in taking care of you two… By the way, have you seen Melody?"

"No, but she's probably with Ray," spat Christella. "Ray… Isn't that the rebel merman?" asked Ariel.

Christella bit her lip; she had given Melody her word that she wouldn't tell mother. "Um… no… well yes, but…" Christella stammered.

Ariel ran her finger through her hair, looking much older in that one moment. "Will Melody be going to school?" asked Christella.

"No," Ariel murmured, "She's too old." Christella frowned. 'That not very fair!" she exclaimed.

"No, but she does have to help me with… political matters. As I've said I've been very busy, I could use the help."

Christella, pouted uncharacteristically. She felt she was getting the raw deal. "But why do I have to go? You didn't."

"Yeah, and my best friends were a fish and crab," said Ariel with a cheeky smile. "I just want you to be a bit more social…"

"That's what they all say." Christella mumbled. Ariel frowned, she didn't want Christella that she had to be the smart goodie-goodie since they had Melody, the flirty rebellious one.

"How 'bout we have a bit of a mother daughter day? I haven't seen you a lot lately and…" "Sure!" Christella interrupted, she didn't have anything else to do. She felt she couldn't face Derek, at least not today.

The two swam through the corridors, chatting happily. They didn't know they were being watched. A hooded figure swam silently behind them in the shadows.

Suddenly, it darted out and growled, "Queen Ariel," She whipped around to face it, shoving Christella behind her.

"What do you want?" she asked, fearless with her head held high. It chuckled and handed Ariel a sealed scroll.

Ariel and Christella stared at the scroll. "The Council will want to be there when I open this…" Ariel murmured to herself.

"The Council?" Christella whispered, "They are… my advisors." Ariel replied. Christella looked up and frowned.

It was gone.

ooOoo

They swam quickly and called the Council as soon as they got there. The first eight arrived almost instantly.

The last two swam in purposely slow one was a rather large man who had a smirk on his face whenever he looked at Ariel.

The other was thin and whip like with teeth that stuck out, and copied the other man's sneer at Ariel.

"So nice of you to join us Danson," said Ariel coldly. "I apologise, Your Highness. I was having a formal breakfast with my son and his new lady friend." He said with a wink.

"Her name's Mariya. You may have heard of her. She's from Mariya and the Merstars." Christella felt as if her heart was being cleaved in half.

"You were told it was urgent business Danson," Ariel's voice was soft and dangerous. "I'm inclined to make a polite apology to my son's possible future wife am I not?"

Christella wanted to cry and flee, but something held her back. In the back of her mind she had the feeling she was needed here.

"Now that we're all here," said Ariel, in a lighter tone, "Let's see what's in this scroll is. Oh, and it may interest you to know that this was given to me by the same who snatched my sister's baby."

The Council exchanged horrified glances, even Derek's father had the dignity to look slightly shocked.

Ariel slowly broke the wax seal and read it to herself once, twice, then out aloud.

"You have received this scroll to inform you that we have kidnapped your daughter Melody, Princess of Atlantica." Startled gasps came from the Council.

"You must have many questions, who are we, why did we kidnap Melody, and what will we do next? It is simple. We are part of a secret rebel group within that led by 'The Black Manta'." Angry murmurs came from the mermen.

"Even he does not know of our existence. We kidnapped the Princess for one simple reason. A ransom. We will gladly return your dear daughter; but in return, we want your husband, Eric the Human." There was mixed reactions from all of the Council.

But Danson laughed. "This is all a big joke." he said, "They must be stupid!" "It is very serious business that Princess Melody has been imprisoned Danson."

"What? Will she break a nail?" He laughed cruelly. Ariel frowned, "You are dismissed." she said to the Council in a near whisper.

"Mama," Christella murmured, "Where's Papa?" Ariel cursed under her breath. She hadn't told either of her daughters that Eric had made a decision.

Melody wouldn't have minded, but Christella and Eric had a special connection.

"He's… on the surface." Christella stared at her mother, she looked utterly betrayed. Without a word she turned and swam slowly away from her mother.

Ariel sighed. With Eric on the surface, Melody kidnapped and Christella as untouchable as the latter, she was utterly alone.


	12. Navy Tail Paint

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**I know how many of you are reading it and it just might be nice if you review once or twice.**

**If you do, you get cyber cookies. ; )**

**Last Time:**

**Christella - **_Ariel sighed. With Eric on the surface, Melody kidnapped and Christella as untouchable as the latter, she was utterly alone._

**Melody - **_Melody checked his pulse, he was alive. She propped him up in his chair and ate some sea grapes._

**Chapter 12:**

When Darcy came back, Melody smiled cheekily and gave a jaunty salute while sitting on the table.

Darcy saw the youth slumped in the chair and his eyebrows furrowed. He took her roughly by the wrists and dragged her to some handcuffs bolted to the ceiling.

He did up the handcuffs around her wrists and muttered, "Next time I wont be so nice."

Melody swam to the ceiling and tried to get her hands out of the cuffs. She gave up, sobbing softly.

The youth stirred in his sleep and sat up with a groan. After a few seconds he noticed Melody. A slow grin stretched across his lips.

Melody's eyes widened with real fear this time as he came towards her. Suddenly she had an idea.

She tucked up her tail and at the right moment drove it into the spot where it would have hurt a human man the most.

Melody sighed in relief as he doubled over in pain. He was down and out again, at least for a while.

ooOoo

Christella went through her school letter. She had to paint her tail and wear a uniform. She had to paint her tail navy and wear a navy and yellow shell top with the school emblem on the right side.

Apparently, she was studying History, Mythology, Art, Comportment, Sewing, Writing and Old Merish.

She looked at her text books. They were all extremely dull looking. The brightest book was the one for art, depicting a painting of a scantily clad mermaid in pastels.

She picked up the Mythology textbook _The Myths of the Sea_ and looked through the contents.

She frowned; they all seemed to be stories about 'true love' or monsters snatching beautiful mermaids who were rescued by dashing gods and heroes.

Only one was different. It was the story of a peasant girl, who managed to get herself into the army as a boy, and proving herself a hero.

She was attacked by one remaining enemy and would have died, had it not have been that she was granted immortality an instant before.

She ended up marrying the god of love, who had numerous flings with mortal mermaids, breaking her heart. She was regarded by the other gods as an outcast.

Christella felt grim. She took out the navy tail paint and reflected on the time she and Melody had painted each others tails.

She slowly painted her tail, thinking about Melody and Derek, her mother and her father and of school the next day.

She finished painting her tail and decided she couldn't stand it. She had to see Derek.

ooOoo

Derek thought about the lunch her had just had with his father and Mariya.

"Now, my son," his father had said to him before the lunch, "She's rich and famous and thinks she's in love with you! Propose now! She's the best you can get!"

"What about royalty," Derek said blandly. "Pah!" exclaimed his father, "I have no respect for those people. I you ever go near any of them, I'll disown you in an instant."

Derek had found the lunch embarrassing to say the least. Her father had been talking about marriage the whole time.

Mariya pretended to listen, but was just interested in winding her tail around Derek's.

Derek could only think of the look of betrayal in Chrissie's eyes when he had kiss Mariya.

Eventually, he had had enough. He got up and mumbled something about going to the bathroom.

Mariya had winked at Derek's father and followed Derek silently. He went into his bedroom and Mariya slipped in after him.

Before he could notice her she opened a vial full of some cloudy white substance. Cold water rushed from the bottle forming ice that pinned Derek's wrists and tail to the wall.

She took out another vial, this one deep purple. "What's that," asked Derek warily.

"I don't now its name. Something long and hard to say." Mariya began, "But I do know what it does. It takes over your brain so it only thinks one thing. Works for about an hour."

She smiled wickedly. "No prizes for guessing what that is. And afterward you remember everything." "Why are you doing this," Derek murmured, Mariya shrugged, "Because I want to."

She shook it and it turned a complete black. She held it under Derek's nose before uncorking it.

The substance almost instantly made it's way up Derek's nostrils. A single thought took over his brain. "I love you," he said to Mariya in an empty voice.

Mariya snapped her fingers and the ice melted away. He took her in his arms and kissed her in his fake passion.

She smiled again then kissed him back. She would have to get out of here before the hour was up though, she thought.

There was no telling what he could do to her after that. She shook herself mentally. An hour was enough for now.

ooOoo

Christella snuck into Derek's house looking around. There wasn't anything feminine in the house.

The walls were decorated with weapons and huge drab paintings of old mermen. In the dark corner was a small picture of a frail but beautiful woman who looked incredibly sad.

Christella went up to the picture and felt as if she had seen the woman before. She realised this must be Derek's mother; she had his nose and mouth.

Christella started and a noise from another room and swam deeper into the shadows, her newly painted navy tail blending into the darkness. Mariya swam into the room with Derek who had his hand around her waist.

She stopped at the front door. "Goodbye," she murmured. "Goodbye," Derek replied and kissed her, his hands sliding from her waist down her body.

Christella bit her lip to stop herself rushing out and slapping them both. Finally, they stopped and Mariya rushed out the door.

Almost the instant after that, Derek doubled over and sunk to the floor. "Derek!" Christella called and she swam from the shadows.

She knelt by his side as he started writhing. She tried to stop him fro about a minute but then he stopped and was deathly still.

"No," Christella murmured, "No…"

**Do you like? Sorry about not updating for a while, had the musical on… Now I'm very tired. yawns But you still get cyber cookies if you review!**


	13. Dreams

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**It's (finally) here, Chapter 13! Sorry I was so slack...**

**Last Time:**

**Christella _- _**_She knelt by his side as he started writhing. She tried to stop him for about a minute but then he stopped and was deathly still._

"_No," Christella murmured, "No…"_

**Melody - **_Melody sighed in relief as he doubled over in pain. He was down and out again, at least for a while._

**Chapter 13:**

He woke up a few minutes before Darcy came back. He swam hastily under the table. Melody sneered, coward. As she heard the doorhandle turn Melody tried to put on the same face of utter disdain.

Darcy noticed the boy under the table in an instant.

"Out," he whispered, "You will be paid." The boy scurried out. Darcy turned and stared at Melody, his eyes narrowed.

She felt her mask slipping. Her whole body was tense. Why didn't he do anything? Melody had expected him to rage, shout and throw things. This was worse.

"Tough as nails…" he murmured, "Or just spoiled?" He muttered unintelligibly. "Tough… broken…" he frowned, "Spoiled... Jarah and Moira?"

He darted out of the room. Slowly Melody relaxed, but she was still alert. She had learned letting her guard down was a big mistake.

The doorhandle turned and Melody lifted her head glaring defiantly at the opening door. Darcy entered first, followed by gaunt mermaid with the eyes, hair and tail of a dull grey storm cloud.

She seemed to leech colour from around her. She quickly appraised Melody and gave a tiny nod.

"I'll take, doubt she'll be of any use." Darcy undid the cuffs binding her to the ceiling and shoved a pair of off-white shells into her hand. The inside was rough and raw, not coated in smooth mother-of-pearl that she was used to.

"But…" she started. Darcy cut her off with a look and jerked his head at her 'room'.

"Five minutes," he growled. Melody rushed in, locking the door behind her. She dressed hastily, dropping the black thing Darcy had given her when she had first arrived on the bed.

She tied back her hair in a messy ponytail with a spare elastic and swam into the room. The shells were already starting to itch.

The mermaid grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room down a hallway. Darcy followed for a while then melted into the shadows.

"Who are you?" Melody whispered. She had whispered it to Darcy, asking the question plaguing her mind, but the mermaid.

"I am Jarah, one of the head cooks. My twin sister and I swap duties daily." Melody thought for a moment, then it dawned on her.

A kitchen was a hectic place. It would be easy, very easy, the slip out of notice and escape. She snuck a cunning little smile and felt that for once something was going right.

ooOoo

Ariel stalked up the beach to the palace steps. She was a frightening vision. Her unrestrained hair whipped about her face, adorned only by her undersea crown. Her Trident glowed in one hand, the ransom note clutched in the other.

She stormed past a pair of befuddled guards who halfway through asking her to halt, recognised her and tried to bow.

She quickly made her way to the throne room where Eric was speaking with a group of important-looking men.

Eric's smile at seeing her quickly turned to a frown of concern. Ariel wordlessly passed him the scroll.

He read it quickly and asked quietly, "Is it true?" She nodded and Eric started to see the beginning of tears in her eyes.

He hurriedly escorted Ariel to their bedroom.

"I must be brave." Ariel murmured, "But you don't have to be brave all by yourself," Eric replied. "I told her," she said, "Chrissie?" he inquired. Ariel nodded, her eye's brimming with tears. Eric wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll go back," he whispered, "No, you can't!" Ariel exclaimed, turning to face him. "It's too dangerous." Eric's eyebrows rose. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Better me than Melody," he said grimly, "But they wouldn't Melody! Would they?" asked Ariel, "Not in ways you can see." Eric frowned. "And they're doing the same to you."

Ariel thought and said, without the slightest hint of doubt, "We leave tonight."

ooOoo

Mariya, who had been watching through the window, smiled. Things had gone better than she expected. She had heard Christella's shout before she had swam away and a plan had formed in her mind.

She silently opened the door and swam over to where Derek's silent body lay.

"What did you do to him?" Christella growled without looking up. "Don't worry, he's fine. He'll wake up in ten of so minutes," Mariya said sweetly. "But I'm sure you'll be long gone by then."

"Why?" asked Christella, now glaring at Mariya. "Oh, just because you just tried to poison the son of an important member of the Council, who also happens to be engaged to the one and only Mariya Silverfin. You had been stalking him since you met him on your first day as a mermaid."

"Well, that's funny, I never remember doing any of that," said Christella sarcastically. "Oh, you will." She took a deep breath.

"What have you done to him you shameless hussy!" Mariya shouted at the top of her lungs, looking smugly at the horrified Christella.

"Get away from him! He never liked you, let alone loved you. In fact he hates you! He told me what you've done, what you tried to do! Get out!"

Christella, realising the seriousness of the situation, did the only sensible seeming thing and fled.

ooOoo

Danson burst into the room in time to see the flash of a navy tail slip out the front door. He turned his attention to the mergirl Mariya, clinging to his sons pale still body.

"What happened my child," he asked. Mariya slowly rose and consoled herself and told him the 'whole story'. A few moments after she finished, Derek's eyelids fluttered and opened, like pale butterflies.

Mariya swooped down Derek, kissing him passionately.

"Oh darling, I told you're father everything, that terrible stalker and of course our special news." Mariya gushed. "Special news?" replied Derek blearily, "Oh, whatever she gave you must have rattled you up a bit. Don't you remember, we're engaged!"

Derek groaned and shut his eyes.

"Oh you poor thing!" murmured Mariya, "We must get him up to his bedroom." She looked imploringly up at Branson who jerked his head at two servants. They wordlessly picked up Derek and carried him off followed by the fussing Mariya.

ooOoo

Christella didn't sleep well that night. The same dream kept reoccurring over and over…

_A pair of webbed hands tore up the parchment into four pieces, each with a verse of the poem on it. "It's the last one left" said a voice in her mind, "But it's important, very import…"_

The dream dissolved. Christella woke up. She remembered it all. And then she remembered something else. It was her first day of school. Great.

**Sorry it took so long. I didn't like where it was going so I did some brainstorming, now it's back on track! So review!**


	14. Thoughts

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**StoryWriter92 and dazzeling diamond, you guys are legends!**

**And (very) special thanks to Bo's Rival!**

**Damn it! Ok, there's been a miscalculation on my part, you see in the last chapter I said Ariel and Eric were going back that night. Scratch that please! They're leaving in the morning. ;)**

**Also, this is Chrissie's first day at school EVER! So I thought that needed first person.**

**Last Time:**

**Christella _- _**_The dream dissolved. Christella woke up. She remembered it all. And then she remembered something else. It was her first day of school. Great._

**Mariya _-_ **_She looked imploringly up at Branson who jerked his head at two servants. They wordlessly picked up Derek and carried him off followed by the fussing Mariya._

**Chapter 14:**

**Christella**

It would be so easy right now to huddle under the covers. I rolled off the bed and drifted down to the floor like a demented leaf. I examined the ceiling for a while before sitting up with a groan.

I yawned and looked about blearily. The uniform, a pair of striped white and navy shells lay on top of my bag. I changed quickly, I had a feeling that being late was not a good idea.

I tied up my curls loosely, wisps of it falling in front of my dark eyes. Melody would never have let me go out looking like this, especially on the first day of school.

I grabbed the heavy bag full of books with a sigh. I grabbed my purse full of shells and stuffed it in the bag.

I had a feeling her mum wouldn't be there, so I'd have to find my own school. Breakfast on the run was the way to go.

ooOoo

Eric woke up to find a peaceful Ariel wrapped in his arms. He smiled and kissed her gently on the cheek.

Ariel's eyelids fluttered, and she opened them, smiling up at Eric.

"Good morning," Eric murmured, "Morning," Ariel whispered back. Suddenly she jerked up, panic in her eyes.

"Eric! It's Chrissie's first day of school!" she shouted then threw back the covers, frantically getting dressed.

"You know we'll miss her, it's too late." Eric said sadly. Ariel sighed sadly and tossed the dress she was holding back on the chair.

"She hates me Eric, I'm sure of it," "No," he replied firmly, getting up and hugging her close.

"Deep down, she loves you. It's always there, even when she thinks otherwise. And it won't ever go away."

ooOoo

**Christella**

I was right, mum was gone without a trace. Even though I had guessed it, it hurt. I didn't even want to go to this stupid school.

For a fleeting second I thought of skipping it, spending the day in the market. Nobody would ever know…

I fought back temptation. I wanted them to be the guilty ones, not me. I was in no mood to be the star today either, and there's was bound to be something, or someone, if I went out the front way.

Oh well, I knew another way, curtesy of Melody of course. There was a small back way out of the kitchens that was in no way highly publicised. Also, I realised with half a smile, it would be easy to grab a snack.

ooOoo

Melody wiped a splash of whatever the gooey, bright pink substance she was stirring off her forehead.

As soon as she had got to the kitchens she had been locked in another small cell. It was almost identical to the other she had been residing in.

One thought had been running through her mind. Escape. Despite everything she soon fell asleep. Then, almost too quickly, she was awake. It was almost completely dark and Jarah was yelling at the top of her voice.

"Get up your lazy nothings! The Master's got a big breakfast planned so get moving!"

Melody groaned and rolled over putting the pillow over her head. There was the sound of her door being unlocked and then it banged against the cell wall.

"GET UP!" Jarah positively roared. Suddenly, the pillow was ripped from Melody's head and Jarah grabbed her with an iron grip at the wrist, pulling her out of the warm bed.

Melody stared up at the beetroot colour face of the cook. Jarah drew back her hand and slapped Melody with such force, little points of light danced around her eyelids.

Melody still felt the ache of it in her jaw. She had never realised the scope of what went into making a meal. Her shoulders had started hurting some time ago and now her lower back was starting up.

But still, looking around she was definitely not the worst off. The girls at the heat spouts sported numerous burns and the girls removing the stings from numerous jelly-like creatures were constantly getting stung.

Melody considered it for a moment longer and realised she had never been the worst off in a situation. The now constant possibility of it scared her right to her heart.

ooOoo

The mermaid with the bulky tail quickly scanned the second verse of the poem on the old document.

_revenge is sweet_

_through the deceit_

_the time will come_

_to late for some_

_the kings daughter_

_survived the slaughter_

_she had one child_

_sweet and mild_

_in turn she had another_

_who we will trust dear brother_

She thought for a moment about her mother and sadness crept into her heart. Her mother's death had been pointless. Her mother had been the gentlest thing in the sea.

A slightly crazy smile passed her lips. She was not gentle like her mother. She was ruthless. There would be no mercy.

**I know nothing really happens in this chapter… But next chapter things start getting juicy! Tell me if I should continue first person with Chrissie!**


	15. Diamonds are a Mergirls Best Friend

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Sorry I took a while, school camps, assignments, car crashes, exploding taps… You know the deal ;)**

**Aaaaaaaargh! So much is happening! There's Chrissie, Mel-Mel, Derek and Mariya, Rhiannon and Ray, Ariel and Eric, Lumpy-Tail, Darcy… I will try my best. looks dramatic**

**Last Time:**

_A slightly crazy smile passed her lips. She was not gentle like her mother. She was ruthless. There would be no mercy._

**Chapter 15:**

She heard the swish of water as someone approached her door. She stuffed the single verse into a nearby drawer, wincing. She usually treated like it was the most precious thing in the world. For her, in a way, it was. The one chance for her and her kind.

Darcy barged in without knocking. No respect for anyone, she though contemptuously.

He stood in the doorway and said simply: "Are you ready?" She simply nodded casually. His plan was only a minor detail in hers.

It put her in the perfect position. Darcy narrowed his eyes. It seemed odd, all the stories said that her kind were the fighting type, hardly submissive, he thought. Mentally he tossed it aside; she had been brought up differently than her ancestors. She would serve his purpose.

ooOoo

**Christella**

I briskly swam down the slowly descending corridor, hardly noticing the silent servants that moved out of my way as I passed. The kitchens smelt divine. I inhaled deeply, the exotic scents filling my nostrils. I stared around everyone was silent and the place was spotless. A slim woman came forward.

"Hello," she said with a sweet smile. "I'm Moira, I'm here most days, feel free to come any time. Are you hungry?" I nodded enthusiastically. The moment I had walked in my empty stomach had decided to make itself known with an audible growl. Moira gave me a bag full of food.

"For lunch," she explained. I nodded my thanks and slipped out the back door, opening the bag as I went. I fished out a jammy pastry swirl. It was delicious and still warm! I noticed a few jealous looks and I came out near the busy place outside the front of the palace. Outside the Palace was The Square.

It was not unlike the markets in the centre of the village I loved visiting on land. Though, unlike the little village square The Square was huge. It was full of buskers, beggars, shop owners, pick pockets, police mermen, dolphin drawn clams and any other thing you could care to imagine.

I wandered up to a particularly pretty pink clam with sweet dolphins. Some of the other dolphins nearby were chomping on their bits with a particularly chipped clam behind it. I timidly put out my hand to stoke the dolphin.

"It's a fee o' one copper per knot and a further two coppers after that," the driver said cheerfully. "I'm sorry, did I frighten ye?" he added when he registered how I had jumped.

"How… how far is it to Finworthy's Academy?" I stammered. "Aye, that'd be 'bout 5 knots from here." "So seven coppers then?" "You're quick then! Aye, that would be fine."

I looked through my purse, and realised I haven't spent a thing since my arrival. The ten gold clams gleamed in the shifting light. I slowly handed one over to the driver. His eyebrows shot up and he let out a low whistle. Silently he handed over nine silver shells and three copper ones. I quickly shoved them in my purse and hopped into the clam. As we started off I looked closely at my change.

The silver clams were smaller than the gold, and the copper smaller still. My tutor had instilled me with a great love of mathematics. I quickly figured that there must be ten silver clams to a gold and ten copper to a silver. I smiled at my small discovery; I could work it all out by myself hopefully.

I hardly noticed the things we were passing until a blot of navy sped by. I looked around and saw that we were passing more and more merteens with navy tails. I watched them carefully. The younger ones often had a parent with them and looked nervous. The older ones were grouped with friends and were talking and laughing.

I tried to imagine myself among them, laughing at some inside joke we alone knew. It didn't seem to fit. I looked ahead and saw a towering building. It was an artful creation, almost a miniature of the palace. A steady stream of students swam through the open doors or lounged in the small courtyard. I realised that I'd been lucky this far, but know I had no idea what to do! The driver stopped a small way from the courtyard.

"Thank you," I murmured, in a distracted way. I swam off to the courtyard where there was a large map posted on a large noticeboard. I stared at it wondering what the best place to start would be. Thankfully the lettering that indicated what everything was basically was the same as that I had been taught to use, though it was more ornate and curly. The interior of the building was vastly different to the palace. I memorised the directions to a place called "Headmistress' Office".

Left, left, right, straight, right, left then the door at the end of the hall. I went as quickly as I could; avoiding looking anyone I passed in the eye. I reached the end of the hall where the door was. The gold sign on it indicated it was my destination. I exhaled deeply and knocked on the door firmly, making a satisfying sound on the expensive wood.

"Come in," said a brisk, but annoying voice. I opened the door to find a small office with a frazzled looking mermaid wearing glasses and a tag proclaiming that she was the secretary.

"Do you have an appointment?" she inquired, eyeing me iron scrutiny. "Um… no…" I muttered and watched alarmed as the mermaids face darkened. "But my mother may have!" I was taking a wild guess, and she huffed as if it was a frequent excuse. "What's your name?" "I'm Christella," "Oh! So you're the princess!" she intoned sarcastically.

"Yes, she is," said a prim mermaid, appearing as if from nowhere. She glowed gold. Her hair, her shells, her tail, the bangles and necklace she wore were all the colour of the precious metal. Even her skin was a sickly shade of yellow. The secretary looked like the world was crashing down on her. I realised that it was my fault, just because of who I was. The gold mermaid gave her a foreboding look. She turned to face me and the whole persona changed dramatically.

"I am Miss Finworthy, the great, great, great, great, great grand daughter of the original Sir Finworthy," she said in a sickly sweet voice with a smile to match. "Pleased to meet you," I replied in my most formal voice. "Ah, good," she whispered a little nervously, "I'll show you to your locker room."

Whispers followed us down the corridor as the word began to spread. There was a princess at Finworthy's Academy. Not just an ordinary princess though, a land princess. I had never felt more embarrassed in my life. It even beat the time some spotty prince three years younger than me tried to kiss me in front of a whole ballroom full of people!

After ages of wandering the maze-like passageways, we reach a room where the walls were lined with large metal lockers. The room was U shaped and around the corner from the entrance there was a wall not lined with lockers, but three doors. One bronze, one silver and one gold. Above the door handle was a keyhole. Miss Finworthy handed me a gold key.

"You're in the gold room," she said with the syrupy little smile, "Inside there's notebooks for all your subjects and your timetable. Oh, and of course the latest Clam. The ClamGoldX I think." **(NB: The CalmGoldX is like a laptop computer.)** I must have looked like she was speaking another language because the said "Go on! It's yours." With that she drifted away. The key was the most intricate and detailed I had ever seen. I slid it gently into the keyhole and turned…

The door swished open to reveal a fully furnish room all in gold. There was a bookshelf, a desk, a couch and even a rug and a gold anchor! I tossed my bag on the couch and sat down at the desk. On it was a large squarish clam and a manual (gold, of course) but also some notebooks and a time table with a map on the back.

I studied the timetable. Monday: first lesson; Writing, then Mythology, morning break. Then Comportment, Art, afternoon break, History and Old Merish. I scanned my whole timetable. Nothing sounded remotely like arithmetic or mathematics. I sighed. My first day of school. Great.

ooOoo

Mariya followed her soon to be father-in-law through the most expensive shops in Atlantica. She twisted her arm around Derek's and smiled sweetly at him while he faced stubbornly ahead. Derek thought about how he tried to tell his father about Mariya and the alleged 'proposal'.

"Father," he had said. "About this proposal, well I have to tell you the truth I…" "Of course!" Branson had cut in, "You didn't get her a ring! No fears boy, we'll go get one tomorrow after breakfast." "But…" Derek started, "Not another word! I know how thankful you are and it's no trouble, I assure you," he said with a smile that looked more like a leer.

Mariya thought about her friend she had contacted that morning. She managed to spot him in the crowd. He was almost invisible in the way that he looked just like every other rich merperson in the street. He followed them indiscreetly pausing at shops as if he was in no hurry.

When they reached the most expensive jewellers in all of Atlantica Mariya started fawning over expensive rings encrusted with huge diamonds and other precious gems. She pointed excitedly to a particularly expensive one that held three big sparkly pink diamonds.

"May I try it on?" Mariya asked the jeweller behind the counter sweetly. As he removed it Mariya turned to Derek.

"Smile darling! You look so mournful." Derek obeyed with a smile that looked real, except for his eyes that could make any person capable of emotion cry. The jeweller handed Derek the ring.

Still smiling his sad-eyed smile, Derek slipped the extravagant ring on Mariya's finger.

Only Mariya heard the clicking that lasted only for a moment. She smiled and knew that Derek was definitely hers.

**Sorry again for taking a long long long long… etc. time. If you never review again I don't blame you… But please review anyway!**


	16. Writing with Daggers

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original _The Little Mermaid _or _The Little Mermaid II_ characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Ok darlings, I had a creative break to think on my story and experience life experiences to influence my story. ;)**

**Hopefully the little twists I've envisaged shall add a bit of zing.**

**Last Time:**

_Only Mariya heard the clicking that lasted only for a moment. She smiled and knew that Derek was definitely hers._

**Chapter 16:**

I was jolted back to reality by the loud bell ringing. I looked nonchalantly at the map and timetable. I hastily grabbed two notebooks, two text books (_Letters and Calligraphy_ and _A Collection of Merish Mythology_) and a collection of pens. I swam through the maze-like corridors. Many other navy-tailed merteens raced through the corridors chatting casually about their holidays.

I found the classroom easily enough, floating outside with the others in my class. I observing them quietly and all were mermaids. There was a general hum of chatter and it was obvious that some were friends from previous years. I looked up as all babble faded. The mermaids in front of me parted as a ferocious looking sea sprite who raised an imperious eyebrow at me when I made no indication of moving. I smiled sweetly at her in a moment of boldness that, at the moment, was slightly uncharacteristic of me.

She had two legs long webbed feet and webbed hands. Her skin had the slightest tinge of green, as did her brownish hair which was restrained in strange braid that reached down to the back of her knees. She smiled revealing a set of sharp bright white teeth. "I am Draphomii," she said in a strange, sweet lilting accent that did not suit her appearance. I opened my mouth to tell her my name but she cut in. "And of course you are the Princess. Princess Christella." I nodded and she again bared her wicked teeth.

"You're the Princess?" asked one of the mergirls who had observed this whole exchange. Suddenly all the girls were staring at me, many open-mouthed. "Yes, I am" I managed to say without a stammer. They observed me closely from my messy ponytail to my broken heart necklace and the single plain gold bangle on my wrist. Most of them wore huge amounts of jewellery and had elaborate hair styles reminiscent of Melody's.

I felt a jolt as I realised this, and remembered she was gone. Guilt spread through me as it all rushed back. I had been so self absorbed, so sorry for myself. But Melody… Thinking about Melody seemed to have allowed everything else to get free. Derek, my mother, my father, the ransom! I slowed my decent into inner turmoil, forcing myself to get back to reality.

The chattering girls had stopped their incessant racket and were looking at the merlady before them. She was incredibly thin and wispy. Her white blonde hair was scraped into a messy bun and tied with a cream shawl identical to one that was draped around her shoulders. Her tail was a washed out blue and her veins showed up alarmingly on her pale skin, but her most distinctive feature were her incredibly large eyes.

In her thin face they look larger than they probably were and they were bright violet which was very startling compared to the rest of her colourless body. Her age was impossible to guess and she looked both young and old at the same time. She was beautiful in a haunting way.

"Girls," she whispered, "I am Miss Bulbé, your Writing teacher. Please go in." She appeared rather wistful when she said that, but I had a feeling she wasn't a scatterbrained as she seemed.

I sat almost automatically beside Draphomii, who sat in the back corner. The girl who had been so excited about my royalty sat at my other side. Two more mergirls almost identical to her sat down the row. "I'm Mia," she said to me, "And these are my sisters, Tia and Lia."

"Uh huh," I answered slowly. The only way I could tell them apart were by the starfish necklaces they wore. Mia wore one of a pale pink, Tia's was pastel blue and Lia's was a creamy yellow. Miss Bulbé quietly for the attention of the class, out of pity we all obeyed. She seemed impossible small and fragile from the back of the class.

"Now girls, welcome back to Finworthy Academy. I hope…" Her little spiel was abruptly cut off when the door crashed open to reveal Mariya. She flounced to the back corner opposite Draphomii's beside Lia and as an afterthought said, "Oh, sorry I'm late."

"It's so nice of you to join us Mariya!" exclaimed Miss Bulbé without the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice or face. "Now girls! Let's get started shall we! Now, in this class you learn not only lettering, but the etiquette involved in writing a letter and such…"

I tuned out to what she was saying and glanced over and Draphomii. She was glaring daggers at Mariya who was calmly filing her perfectly manicured nails. She glanced up briefly to smile sweetly at me then let her smile fade before glancing mockingly at Draphomii with a single raised eyebrow.

I tried hard to pay attention to poor Miss Bulbé, but found it rather hard with Draphomii death staring Mariya and Mia chatting at me endlessly about some really hot merguy she met in the Bahamas. Finally it ended and I followed the stream of mergirls out with a sigh of relief. I got out the map a plotted the course to my next class, Mythology.

ooOoo

Melody looked up at Jarah stealthily through her eyelashes. She had her back turned to her and was shouting at some hapless mermaid for burning something. Melody gently put the knife down that she had be using to chop up sea cucumber and slipped out into the nearest corridor.

She swam as swiftly and as silently as she could and came to the kitchen gardens. There was no way to get out, as a ceiling was formed by stone and coral bars. She closely examined the garden for a way out.

"Yes!" Melody exclaimed in triumph under her breath. Almost invisible under a veil of climbing seaweed was a door. Melody turned the handle and to her relief it was not locked. She slipped through and carefully closed the door behind her. She found herself behind a thick wall of seaweed.

Melody peered out from behind it carefully. It was a beautiful garden, but much to Melody's annoyance it had a ceiling of bars. As Melody, still behind the seaweed, contemplated what to do next a mermaid and a merman swam into the garden. She could not see the merman properly from where she was but recognised the girl who had let her in on that day when she had come to see him… She racked her memory for her name… Rhiannon! It all seemed so long ago. She could almost hear his voice ringing in her ears.

Melody paused; Ray's voice was not in her imagination. He was the merman in the garden! Her heart beat so fast she was sure it would explode. Melody felt like jumping out from behind the seaweed and shouting "I'm here!" But something held her back and she listened.

Ray began to speak. "I can't believe it took me so long to realise Rhiannon… I'm just so glad that you…" "Shhh…" Rhiannon soothed him, "It's all alright my darling." Melody felt that something was definitely not all alright. She glanced out from behind the sea weed and watched in horror as Ray took Rhiannon is his arms and kissed her passionately, as if all he had ever wanted and desired was all poured into that one kiss. She felt a giant lump form in her throat and unsuccessfully tried to suppress a choked sob.

Rhiannon looked in the general direction of where she was hiding and eyes narrowed slightly. "Come my love," she whispered to Ray, before taking his hand and beginning to lead him towards the door. Melody burst out from behind the seaweed and time seemed to slow. Ray's eyes met Melody's. He frowned and Melody saw him mouth her name in one question that contained so many more. And then he was gone, the door shut. Melody rushed to it and slumped to the floor on the discovery that it was locked.

ooOoo

They both woke late that morning. Ariel nestled into him, absorbing the feeling of the warmth from his chest and the steady rhythm of his heart. "We must leave my darling," Eric said as he woke, slowly sliding his arms around her. "I know," she whispered back, placing a soft and lingering kiss on his lips. She sat up gradually, sighing a little as Eric released her. She thought back to the words at the very bottom of the ransom scroll that only Eric had noticed.

_At the Festival of the Highest Tide when the moon is at its peak, we will make the exchange of daughter for father in the Square of Peace. If you do not meet our terms, you will never see your daughter as long as you live. -- Dark Crier_

Ariel sighed again. At the Festival everyone wore a mask, as was law. No weapon was carried in the Square of Peace, and to create violence there was exile. The Festival was in a week exactly. This Dark Crier was clever, Ariel thought. And in that moment she had the feeling she was missing something crucial. She muttered a curse under her breath as she realised it was Chrissie's first day of school. She rubbed her temples with her fingers. It was time for her to return to the sea, and something in her heart told her she was never going to leave it again.

**Ooooo! Drama. Please please please review! I'll give you more cyber cookies! gasp :P**


	17. The Hint of Change

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original **_**The Little Mermaid **_**or **_**The Little Mermaid II**_** characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Great big thanks to everyone who put this story or me in their favourites or alerts lists!**

**DD, my awesome beta, you rock girl! Brit, thanks for the very important encouragement!**

**Oh, and I'm going to revert to third person with Chrissie this chapter… Please tell me what you think.**

**Last Time:**

_She rubbed her temples with her fingers. It was time for her to return to the sea, and something in her heart told her she was never going to leave it again._

**Chapter 17:**

"I really should've got lost by now," Chrissie mused to herself, it all seemed just a bit too easy. She spotted her classroom where the last few students were swimming in and rushed the last few meters so she wouldn't have to endure the stares that were associated with arriving by yourself. She scanned the classroom and saw only one vacant seat, making things a whole lot easier, but then again sitting in front of Mariya was definitely going to be fun Chrissie thought sarcastically. Just thank the Lord, no Neptune! Thank Neptune that she didn't have her phalanx of trusty airheads with her…

She quietly took her seat between an extremely pale mermaid with black hair, nail polish and 'tattoo' on her wrist drawn on in pen and a merboy with a face that was not extremely handsome, just boyishly cute. He didn't look anything really different or special. She could already feel Mariya's death stares she has employed on Draphomii boring into the back of her neck. She looked to the front of the classroom where a flamboyant youngish mermaid sat on the desk. She had a bright pixie-like face, with black spiky hair to match and a hot pink tail. Paired with her electric blue shells she was an eclectic yet stunning beauty.

"Hey everyone! If any of you guys haven't met me before I'm Lana, unless of course anyone important happens to be in the room, in which case I'm Miss Vi. Vi, like V I, not V. Got it?" The difference between her and Mrs. Bulbé was extreme. "Ok, so you guys are learning Mythology, right? If your not you can stay anyway. The point is Mythology is pretty interesting, and we won't just learn about the myth that you all probably know. For example, what do you know about the myths of the infamous water demons? Or the tribal mermaids from the Barrier Reef? Or even myths from above the sea…" she said casting a quick glance as Chrissie.

Chrissie was completely absorbed throughout the entire lesson and definitely jumped when the bell rung, ending the lesson far too quickly. Chrissie swam quickly to her gold room and as she turned the key in the lock she noticed Mariya and the -ia's approaching. Mariya held a key identical to Chrissie's, but shining silver. Chrissie quickly slipped into her room and flopped onto the couch and pulled out her food, which she chewed on half-heartedly. It was so quiet, amazingly no sound from the corridors was audible in the room. She sunk into a series of meaningless thoughts, successfully avoiding thinking about everything that was going wrong.

But then somehow her thoughts fell onto Derek. Even though she hadn't known him for long she felt like she had known him for much longer. How cliché, she thought, but even clichés must have their origins. She thought about Mariya and realised that she loathed her. She'd never hated anyone with such a passion before, of course she was no saint that loved everyone either, but this hate was so amazingly powerful it almost scared her.

She was wrenched out of her own head by the ringing of a cute little bell rigged up near the ceiling as the normal bell would be undetectable in this room. She grabbed her some books and the text books for her lessons, Comportment and Art, and the all important map.

ooOoo

Ray saw the face of that girl again in his mind. He was so sure he had never seen her before, but he knew her and her name. It was so annoying, eating away at his thoughts…

"What are you thinking about Ray?" Rhiannon inquired, she was lying with her head in his lap as they sat in the room that was now theirs, relaxing, thinking.

"Nothing really," he said nonchalantly, playing aimlessly with her hair, "Just that girl I saw in the gardens… How I feel as if I've seen her face, and I know her name."

"You may have dreamt it somehow," she reasoned.

"That's probably it," he said, trying to dismiss the thought. Silence. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I know," she said with a smile to match and wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her.

ooOoo

Melody sat in the garden, dazed. She kept replaying that short section of time over and over in her mind. Him with that girl… That girl who had stolen him. It didn't make sense though. She had only known Ray a little while but it did not seem at all right. Something didn't fit. She recalled how he had said her name, as if he didn't know her; as if he didn't know why he knew here face and name. She sighed and decided to wallow in self pity for a little while longer.

She closed her eyes as if it would block everything out, which of course was rather ineffective. She tilted her head one way then the other, stretching her neck. It cracked and although it wasn't painful it seemed rather ominous. She contented herself with just sitting, beyond the physical world… She realised she could see Ray, it were as if a film was playing on closed eyelids. She could see only him, he was surrounded by darkness. She could hear his voice, though it was muffled and she only picked up a few words.

"… that girl… seen… know her…" She strained her ears, trying to pick up what he was saying.

Before he could say anything she felt a hand descend on her shoulder and her senses rocketed back to where she was sitting. Her head felt like it was spinning and she pressed a hand against her temple as she realised she had a shocking headache and felt positively exhausted. A kind face swam into focus before her. The merwomans mouth was moving, but all Melody could hear was the rise and fall of her voice. She could probable work out some of the syllables her mouth was making if she concentrated enough, yet that was well beyond her at the moment.

ooOoo

Moira looked at the dark-haired mergirl blinking at her in a dazed sort of way, and realised she did not understand a thing she had said. She looked at the girls face closely, it seemed familiar. She smiled as she recognised it. She had seen that faces near twin just that morning, though wreathed in red hair, not black.

"Princess Melody, yes Darcy told me of you… Though he doesn't realise that my loyalty lies most definitely with the palace and my treachery to him will ensure I remain there… That is hardly a burden, that kitchen is one of masters and Jarah will be happier to if I am not mistaken," she said to herself. She shrugged and picked up the now shivering mermaid with unexpected strength, she had her plans and though simple to her they would change the future of the Oceans.

**gaspeth! How dramatic… Exam block should die… Anyway, I am thinking of making this story two parts and I may change the name to suit my developing plans… So opinions on that please. I'm so annoyed though! Things aren't getting where I want them to be quick enough! I feel like I need to write what I envisage right now, lest it run out of my head… But otherwise the usual, review blah blah… (insert threats/bribes here) It's late so ignore my ramblings… 'Til the next chapter then! Let's see if it's less than a month. :P**


	18. The Future of Demons

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original **_**The Little Mermaid **_**or **_**The Little Mermaid II**_** characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.**

**Since I'm possibly on a roll and I want to start writing what I regard as the exciting bits I'll try and get this up ASAP.**

**Bo's Rival, if you yell at me for not updating every time you check if I have, I would probably update a whole lot more… :P**

**Thanks for all the encouragement and all the reviews!**

**Last Time:**

_She shrugged and picked up the now shivering mermaid with unexpected strength, she had her plans and though simple to her they would change the future of the Oceans._

**Chapter 18:**

Chrissie sat in Comportment, a false look of attentiveness plastered on her face. Everyone seemed to be paying complete attention to the incredibly old mermaid who was their teacher, having introduced herself as Miss Orield. Chrissie had a feeling she'd seen or heard the name somewhere before. She appeared frail physically at least, but there was a sense of determination about her. But still, Chrissie had no idea why everyone (even Draphomii and Mariya!) seemed to be paying such avid attention to her.

The entire lesson was as mind numbing as the first five minutes had been. Miss Orield spent the whole lesson talking about what they were planning to do in the incredibly important subject of Comportment. Her voice was infuriating like the tickle of a feather, the shakiness of it that came with age was highly pronounced and rather irritating, to put it nicely. And because she was naive enough to take a front seat, beside Draphomii, Miss Orield thought that Chrissie must also share her passion for the fine art of manners.

"Why do you put up with her?" Chrissie asked her afterwards. Draphomii grimaced slightly before saying sarcastically, "Oh, the fact the Hall is named after her means nothing." Chrissie checked her map and discovered that indeed there was a large room and that took up the whole second floor of the building called the Handeline Orield Hall.

Her prayers for something vaguely enjoyable afterwards came in the form of Art. The teacher, Mr. Glatt, was young and rather attractive, a fact not lost on all the mergirls in the class, least of all Mariya who went as far as batting her eyelashes at him as he glanced her way. Chrissie fumed silently, how dare she? It was infuriating how she had stolen Derek, yet here she was flirting with their Art teacher! She exhaled loudly and resigned herself to trying to burn a hole in the middle of Mariya's flawless complexion. That was until she picked up a couple of the words from the conversation the two boys beside her were having. She realised that one of them was the same boy who had been sitting beside her in Mythology.

"I hate quadratic functions!" he complained. "I'm sure they're impossible. The simple ones were okay… Then there was more!" Chrissie didn't quite suppress a snigger. She found quadratics incredibly easy, in fact she found all algebra and trigonometry rather simple. Her tutor had been about to teach her about non-real number when they left. He turned to face her. "You girls are so lucky you don't have to do Mathematics! Though I guess it's because you'd never be able to do any of it." Chrissie's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Oh really," she said dryly, "Try me." He looked slightly taken aback and started flipping through a text book.  
"Ok, something _easy_," he said in a patronising tone, "What's x when x² + 2x - 3 0…" Chrissie stared at the ceiling, lost in thought for a moment. "Ha! I told you that you…"  
"x is -3 or -1," she answered calmly. He hastily flipped to the answers section of the book."Is she right?" the boy beside him asked."Yes…" he said, stunned, "She is."

After a second or two of them staring at her as if she were an alien Chrissie decided it would be better to extend her network of acquaintances, rather than create new enemies.  
"Well… I believe introductions are in order?" she said smoothly, "I'm Christella, people call me Chrissie most of the time though."

"Technically, I'm Thazariam. Yeah, I know, doesn't suit me much…" he said to the look on Chrissie's face of incredulity. "Some people call me Thaz, though I don't really have any friends…" he trailed off, "And why did I just tell you that…" he shrugged. "Christella… That seems to ring a bell you know." Chrissie bit back an explanation and wondered if he would work it out for himself. He screwed his face up slightly in concentration before shaking his head a short while later. "Nope, can't place it. Oh well…" Chrissie gave a small sigh of relief. She hated people treating her differently just because of who she was. Even though he'd find out eventually, perhaps there was a possibility that by then he would know her well enough that it wouldn't matter.

"Hey, do you reckon you could help me with Maths? You seem to be pretty good at it. I mean…" he trailed off, blushing slightly. Perhaps he had realised he was actually talking to a girl, she thought, something she had the feeling was a rare occurrence for him.

"Sure!" she replied with a smile, "I was actually thinking of trying to change to Maths." she said, voicing her half-formed thought, "Show me your timetable." He slid it across the table to her and she compared them. Every time she had Comportment, he had Maths. "Excellent…" she said softly. She decided she would go see Miss Finworthy, she was a princess! That would be some sort of leverage. Surely, hopefully, she'd be allowed to do Maths.

ooOoo

Melody stirred slowly, where was she? She opened her eyes and saw a blurry darkness that sharpened, becoming a small, dark room. Everything came back and she groaned. Then she thought about seeing Ray… Seeing Ray in her mind… Had it just been a figment of her imagination? Somehow she knew it wasn't. Her head throbbed and Melody decided she probably wasn't capable of coherent thought right now. She closed her eyes and succumbed to darkness…

ooOoo

Draphomii causally flicked through a merteen gossip magazine, chewing absently on the end of her black marker pen. She turned the page to find a glossy close-up of Mariya's face beside an article titled _The Ocean-Wide Success: Atlantica's Gem!_ Draphomii's previous frown gave way to a smile of malicious glee. The black pen descended and Mariya soon sported a monobrow, moustache, curly goatee and an eye patch. Satisfied, the sea demon flipped to the back of the magazine to work on the crossword, which she completed in a few easy minutes. She glanced at the pale lilac potion suspended over the portable heating device that was emitting a steady, concentrated stream of steam bubbles. She determined it was ready, turned off the mechanism and grabbed the potion straight away. The burning glass would have scalded their hands in such an act, but sea demons had some strange heat resistance so she felt no pain in her webbed hand, nor when she tipped the searing potion down her throat in one. She gave a gravely cough that gradually became more refined until it was a polite, petite cough that Miss Orield would be proud of.

"Ugh, that stuff so sickly sweet," she said in that sugary voice that in no way matched her appearance. She flopped back onto the couch she had been sitting on before, adjusting the seaweed green throw that hid the bronze upholstery. She hated the bronze that dominated the room, it was too close to orange for her liking, she had covered every part of the room she could with black and green. The room was neat and dark apart from a small pile of magazines in a corner stacked in random order with candy colours that seemed offensive in the black and green room. She shook her head, it was time to do some work. She opened the drawer that would seem jammed to anyone but herself and removed with the piece of paper within it. It was the Final Work of Aldon the Wise, known as The Future of Demons. It was not the original of course, wrongly thought to have been lost in The Great War by sea demons (merpeople, the Dagger damn them, did not even know of its existence), but a copy. The only copy. Her grandmother had given it to her, she was cunning a demon and had thought it would be better for her granddaughter to try and decode the poem, after all it concerned her specifically! It consisted of four verses with ten lines each.

When it was written no one had a clue as to what the poem was describing. It was in fact describing the aftermath of an event that would occur in ten years time. The Great War, the battle between merpeople and sea demons. The demons had been outnumbered vastly, and the result reflected that. The sea demons were almost extinct and an immense amount of prejudice held against them. Draphomii started to read and uncapped a fine tipped pen with dark green ink to make notes.

revenge is sweet

through the deceit

the time will come

too late for some

the kings daughter

survived the slaughter

she had one child

sweet and mild

in turn she had another

who we will trust dear brother

That verse was obvious enough. It just identified the one who would save the sea demons. It identified her. She quickly moved on to the last three verses which, unlike the first, she had never read before.

five with power will seek

through quest unique

the four great forces

and the almighty source

one to rule above

though with hate or with love?

the one that greatness shall absorb

shall find the pale glowing orb

now a riddle to unwind

the objects that you must find

from fish thoroughly strident

the cursed and dooming trident

from one who boasts eternal reign

the circle reflects our domain

of tribes thought dim-witted and uncouth

the mysterious great white tooth

from the old demon maid

our ancient blessed blade

from waters of darkness and fear

the greatest sea sphere

so i wish thee good fortune

on the forty-second blue moon

with no person place your loyalty

even the three of royalty

neither in the sultry dame

who basks in glory and in fame

and beware the one of quiet tongue

lest you be caught as the trap sprung

heed my warnings when the time is nigh

these my final words, I DIE

Draphomii read those last two words again and a chill ran through her. It was legend, the death of Aldon the Wise. He had been found in his bedchamber to which he had been confined for two tides with illness with the parchment clutched in his hand outlining his final prediction he made. It was one of many that were famously accurate. The best philosophers and scholars had puzzled over it for around a year before they gradually lost interest, unable to decipher it. Draphomii frowned and wondered if the same would occur for her. She reread the last verse carefully, something about it attracted her gaze.

The first line of the second verse, five were seeking… She had a feeling she was one of them. And then the last verse told not to trust them… But in doing so revealed something about these seekers! She considered the three royals part, obviously she was one of them. Christella was royal too… She let out a bark of laughter. She had wondered what urge had caused her to befriend the princess, fate! A 'sultry dame' who was famous… Instantly Mariya came to mind. She grimaced. Surely this was to easy? The bell rang suddenly, making her jump. She carefully placed the poem back in the drawer, she had work to do…

**sigh That was strangely exausting... Um... Yes, review and all... But things are getting exciting! claps excitedly Things are actually beginning to go the way I've planned!**


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